(6 Nov 2006)
FILE: Ankara - 3 November 2002
1. Zoom in of former Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit putting vote in ballot box
FILE: Mersin, Turkey - 1974
2. Various of Turkish frigates leaving for Cyprus
3. Ecevit speaking
4. Turkish soldiers on hill with frigates below preparing to leave Mersin
FILE: Lefkosa, Cyprus - 1974
5. Pan of crowd welcoming Ecevit
6. Ecevit speaking
FILE: Washington DC - 17 January 2002
7. Ecevit getting out of limousine on his arrival to the White House
8. Ecevit with US President George W. Bush
FILE: New York City - 18 January 2002
9. Various of Ecevit at the 'Ground Zero' site of World Trade Centre attacks on 11 September 2006
FILE: Turkey (exact location unknown) - 8 August 2001
10. Former Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon shaking hands with Ecevit
11. Mid of Sharon and Ecevit
FILE: Moscow - 5 November 1999
12. Zoom in of Ecevit shaking hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
13. Med of Ecevit and Putin in meeting room with other Russian officials
14. Various of Ecevit
15. Pan from Putin to Ecevit signing document
16. Mid of Putin and Ecevit
FILE: Location unknown - 1 October 2002
17. Ecevit meeting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
18. Wide of Ecevit in a meeting room
19. Mid of Ecevit and Aziz
FILE: Turkey (location unknown) - 1 November 2002
20. Ecevit with his wife Rahsan at an election rally
21. Back shot of Ecevit and his wife in front of large crowd
STORYLINE:
Former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, a political force in Turkey for almost half a century who ordered the invasion of Cyprus and later pushed his country toward the West, has died.
He was 81.
Ecevit died on Sunday at Ankara's GATA military hospital after nearly six months in a coma following a stroke, the hospital said in a statement, citing circulatory and respiratory problems as causes of his death.
He was admitted to hospital on May 18 after suffering a stroke while attending the funeral of a high court judge who was shot dead by an alleged Islamist extremist gunman.
He had been a key figure in Turkish politics for half a century.
The former leader had served as prime minister of Turkey five separate times and is best known for ordering the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 following an abortive coup by the military government in Athens
The invasion of Cyprus led to the division of the Mediterranean island and resulted in 5000 deaths.
Ecevit was voted out of power in 2002 in part because of concerns over his failing health, leading to the rise of current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party.
The worst electoral defeat of his nearly 50-year political career was when he won just one percent of the vote - after voters held him responsible for a 2001 economic crisis that saw millions (m) of layoffs.
His career started as a staunchly left-wing leader but later became an American ally, a transformation that mirrored changes in his country, which has gone from a largely insular nation to one that is increasingly opening up to the West, but is not always comfortable with the changes.
Under Ecevit, Turkey was accepted as a candidate for membership in the European Union in 1999.
He supported US use of a Turkish air base for flights over northern Iraq and agreed to sell off key state companies to private investors.
Ecevit, who served five times as premier and was imprisoned following the 1980 military coup and served as prime minister during the 1999 capture of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Following the coup, Ecevit was imprisoned.
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